This is simply stupid and the problem has a simple answer: auction the number of permits which matches the number of spaces available. The easiest way would be to use Ebay. It's done in other countries and it works.

While I hate drivers with a vengeance, how is it legal to sell a parking permit for a space which doesn't exist?

About time someone took the cooncil to court.

Lets make lots of money by selling non existant spaces.

So you can park but you can't park. If this was timeshare they would be hauled into court.
Useless.

#1 Mr Poo -

a bit right wing and socially negligent to suggest auctioning permits?

perhaps a more honest part-solution would be to relate permit prices to engine size and tick the carbon emission box too?

This council is a sham; I fully appreciate that the council want to stop commuters from using residential area's but giving out more passes than there are spaces is immoral. I live in zone 8 and only manage to find a space about once a week. I have to use my car for work and upon return find myself using pay parking. Kick this lot out.

CITY leaders are getting there parking with no problem at green side. loads of edinburgh city council
cars there bet thay dont pay £160

This is clearly being done using the application of the same principles that airlines use when selling seats. They overbook on the expectation (based, it must be admitted, on experience) that a certain percentage won't turn up. Mostly it works, but when too many confirmed ticket holders turn up some (unlucky) soul gets bumped to a later flight.

It is unfortunate that ECC picked such a model. Aside from the fact that there are too many cars for bays the similarity stops there. For the motorist there is no "next flight" unless you count driving round in circles waiting hopelessly for someone to leave. The airlines are also (by EU law) required to compensate bumbed passengers. Fat chance of that with ECC.

Perhaps the policy makers at ECC could inform the EN readers exactly what they propose for the excess of cars that can't find a free bay. Crushing? Parking out of town? Pro-rata refund of exorbitant parking permit fee?

Rationing is all very well, but only if its implemented in a demonstrably fair way. This is not.

Friend of FP [1] makes a suggestion worthy of further debate, but it still suffers from the disadvantage that "those that have" will effectively commandeer all available places. An anonymous lottery might be better.

All the parking bays should be "dual-use". Then there would be no need for so-called "management" of the spaces.

i asked our venerable leader ewan aitken the same question not that long ago and he explained it to me on his blog.
Your not actually paying for a parking space, your paying for the right to park.
see that makes sense then doesnt it. If only everybody who was spending the cash new this im sure theyd all be so much happier.

But it's well-known that the council have always done this. Why are the EN going on about the Freedom of Information Act as if it's some big secret that they've uncovered?

#2. "While I hate drivers with a vengeance..."

Sounds like a classic case of projecting negative, defensive distortions. This should be eaasily treated if you seek professional help.

I'm not sure this is the issue that it's being made out to be and if it is. Every council issues permits on a greater than 100% of space availability and this tends to work well provided the ration is not too high.

Typically the majority of car use is during the working day and the demand for spaces is in the evening / overnight. As there are less parking restrictions overnight this allows residents to park in non-dedicated spaces. This isn't the perfect of solution of giving everybody a guaranteed space, but it does maximise the number of residents who can have access to residents' parking bays.

The only aspect that should be questioned is the ration of permits to spaces.

seems like fraud to me, selling more than your ticket allocation, but of course if its done by a council or executive then its ok.

NO SURPRISES HERE.THE COUNCIL ARE A BUNCH OF IDIOTS. JUST LOOK AT BOTTOM OF VISITORS PARKING PASSES THAT ASK FOR A PERMIT NUMBER WHEN YOU DON'T EVEN NEED A PERMIT NUMBER IN ORDER TO USE A VISITORS PERMIT. HOW DUMB CAN YOU GET?

A question to Mr Roden. Can you tell us how many drivers said they have been 'robbed'? If they have been 'robbed' surely they should report the matter to the Police. Did you advise them to do this?

Yes ddmc this is legal and perfectly in order . Let the buggers sell their cars if they are unhappy .
So who has actually taken the council to court - answer , no-one because it's all above board .

I would be getting the police involved if I was one of these people

#5

"perhaps a more honest part-solution would be to relate permit prices to engine size and tick the carbon emission box too?"

Where's the rationale for this insanity? Exactly how much fuel does a 2CV use when it's parked? - exactly the same as a 4.6 Litre Range Rover........

I do agree that vehicles should randomly be tested for emissions, (particularly NO2 which is what Edinburgh is in trouble for) that'd get all the buses of the road and leave space for less polluting vehicles.

#2-6 As has been pointed out before, if people wanted a guaranteed parking space all year they'd have to pay an awful lot more than £160. Clearly more people want to park than can; rationing by price would be fine with me but I bet you'd hear the howls for miles. Parking permits are to pay for wardens to give some chance of parking.

#19

I suppose you have got to ask yourself why you would need a 4.6 litre Range Rover in the City anyway.

Surely the capitals roads are all by now covered in lovely tarmac?

#9 If all spaces were dual, that would be far worse for residents. Ridiculous suggestion.

Airlines often over-book their flights in the knowledge that about 5% of people don't turn up.

I think if the percentage of permits to spaces was increased from 78% to about 90%, that would be a reasonable compromise.

What is the problem? There are too many cars and not enough spaces, so if you buy a parking permit you are paying for the possibility to park, not the right to a guaranteed spot. It is just like using busy public transport - you don't always get a seat. If you want to reduce problems parking either dump the car or cough up for pay and display

Apart from the overselling of permits, the other major flaw in the scheme is that "Residents Only" bays operate between 08:30 and 17:30. Outside these times anyone can park, and therefore those residents who have purchased a permit cannot find a space as they are taken by people who haven't.

If the bays are truely for the benefit of the Permit Holding Residents then they should operate 24 hours a day!!!

I say scrap the lot of the pay for permits - we already pay council tax so why should drivers be taxed even more.

It's extremely unfair for those of us who bought our houses in areas without permit zones to find ourselves in an impossible situation that we must pay for the right to park in the vicinity of our houses.

Bring back congestion charging but do it sensibly i.e. if you pay council tax in Edinburgh you don't have to pay - if you are not from here and if you cross the bypass into the city you pay. simple really.

Fidelio #21 said "Surely the capitals roads are all by now covered in lovely tarmac?".

Actually it's lovely speed bumps! An excellent justification for choosing a 4x4 - cars that are designed for rough terrain.

Bye the way if you're a knee-jerk 4x4 haters about to respond, consider this:- One of the most popular 4x4's, the CRV 4x4 is 1.6 tons. And one of the most poular taxis, the TX4 1.9 tons (more when you add in the driver and a Councillor who won't take the bus). Guess which is bigger too?

This problem was always going to happen, only the clowns in the council could not or would not acknowledge this problem was coming.
Like night follows day, this council were going to make a huge error by overselling permits.
Short term thinking was money money money.

If you truly believed the council were selling permits for the benefit of residents, well that was your first mistake.
If you thought this would give you a parking space well that was your second.
The whole town is becoming one big CPZ so you can't take your car from outside your house to another street without giving a donation to the council.

If the council was giving away the permits to residents, then that would have shown they were doing this for the benefit of residents.

Now what is happening is that all streets are turning into CPZ and if you ignore those, who on principle are against cars, you now find even the motorist who were for this scheme are now seeing it for the scam that it is.

#25 - the intorduction of the permit scheme into new areas was requested by residents and approved at a public hearing. While you might not like the idea, your neighbours did. It costs money to administer and maintain the permit scheme. If permits were free, this cost would have to be met from council tax. Are you suggesting that people without cars or who live outside the city centre should subsidise your permit?

No 16, a typical knee jerk not thought out pseudo green response. THink about this though, what if you drive your 2CV 10-20 times more than I drive my 4.6 litre Ranger Rover ? Well then my friend you are polluting more than I am, didnt think that one through did you ?

The students are a big part of the problem here, you have a house, one address with 3-4 parking permits issued to it. When they leave in the summer there is no parking problem. They dont pay council tax either so bin their permits !

Ad for the council, if any other entity was doing this knowingly as they are it would be called fraud, plain and simple.

Solution...mixed use bays and 1 permit per address.

Problem solved.

Maybe everyone should read the opinions page.

"People are entitled to own cars if they choose and the council has an obligation to issue a pass to any bona fide resident that applies. There is little point in those that choose to live in such highly populated areas close to the city centre complaining. Flat life is likely to involve parking difficulties and that should be a consideration from the outset."

http://platosway.blogspot.com

It really is time that the masses took action. Clog the meters, don't pay the fines and above all, don't become a parking attendant!

I admire everyone who does any job anywhere, except that one. Don't understand why on earth you would sell your soul like that...

#19 Mr Stockbridge

Read the full text before knee-jerking. No need to lose your cool

If I was a betting man, you sound like you own a Chelsea tractor. Now, be honest..

The Council's is a simple plan, really - create a huge administration to interfere with every part of a citizen's life - employ everyone that they can in that administration or in companies dependent on its policies - never get voted out of office. Hopefully its not too late.

I used to take my daughter to the cafes in Bruntsfield at the weekend and although it was a struggle to find parking there was usually somewhere after a mild struggle. Since the introduction of permit parking I drive round empty spaces and can't park on any of them. Having done this a few times now I've given up. This is a loss to local traders and I bet I'm not the only one whose frustrated. Shame on the Council for taxing everybody for the sake of it and selling it to us as an attempt to solve parking issues. No wonder their all taking the financial packages on offer prior to May. They've let the people they represent down but as usual instead of just getting the boot for poor performance their getting rewarded for it. I wish Scotland would go independent just so poverty could come through the door and the public sector could go out of the window.

Is there anything Tina Woolnough isn't involved in?

I've been asking the council to explain the pricing methodology for the £160 versus the £80 and as yet have had no luck in getting a sensible or even logical response. There are no parking problems in my street yet we pay £160. I can return at anytime of the day or night and there will be at least 5 or 6 spaces to choose from within 20 yards of my front door. I always thought pricing worked on supply and demand not an arbitrary figure pulled out of the air by some underworked council employee. The next time i go to buy a fridge and give my postcode i'll expect the shop assistant to state 'oh you live there - that will be twice the charge for you compared to everyone else'.

Visitors to my street have to pay to park on a Saturday yet roads such as Buckingham Terrace or around Cumberland Street get free parking on a Saturday and are much closer to town. How does that work?

I think i'll buy a clown suit and apply for a job there.

Living in a CPZ - you need a permit. Outside the control hours parking is difficult, because it is a free-for-all. If we scrap controls then parking will be a problem 24/7. And £80 (or even £160) a year is nothing compared to the cost of buying and running a car.

Re N° 22, Billy C: You state that dual purpose parking is "utterly ridiculous". Well, in the city where I lived before returning to Edinburgh, that is what we had, and it worked well. I don't recall having problems. With dual purpose parking, more spaces can be found much of the time, instead of only a portion of the spaces. Day-time visitors can have an extremely difficult time finding a space to park while there are numerous empty spaces reserved for residents with permits. In the evening, with dual purpose parking, residents are not restricted to residents' parking. Without dual purpose, and I know this happens all the time, a resident is often required to park in the metered zone as all the permit spaces are occupied, and must leave the space early the next morning, feed the meter or pay a fine. Dual purpose parking would at least help to solve that problem.

#28 - I am suggesting that the congestion charging fees should cover the scheme but failing that I believe it should be a council service which means that all tax payers will contribute - even those without cars.

I pay my council tax which goes on services that I never use - I don't have kids yet I have to pay for the services that other peoples ones use. council tax is there to cover basic services that don't apply to everyone and as a single person with no kids it would be nice to actually get a bit more the benefit of some of the council tax I pay out each year.

I would like to ask council spokesman Acorn #28.
Why did you not turn the area outside police HQ at fettes into a CPZ?
Residents in your view wanted it so why is there no zone?
Surely it was not the council applying a double standard? The councils slogan could be "fairness for some"

The permit scam could be run for less than £80/£160 permit and if the council cannot run it at this price then it would be worth everyones (except the council or course) while to put it out to tender.
The council time and time again show they cannot run drinks in a brewery.

#33 What kind of nonsense are you spouting!

Parking charges don't operate in Bruntsfield at the weekend!

Why are the people that live in flats and townhouses in the CPZ even given the option to buy permits in the first place. I thought all of these streets were actually common land therefore surely they should have to pay to park just like everyone else does. Either that or make all of the streets free to park on.

I have my own house with a private driveway and I never have a problem parking my car.

I think you ar getting a bargain to be able to park in the centre of Edinburgh, somewhere close to your home, for either £80 or £160 a year. Parking on an Edinburgh street for 1 day costs over £5.

You do the maths!! I think you'll find that you're onto a winner there so stop complaining before the ECC try to rip you off for more money.

#5 Ocean11: Right-wing? Moi? Certainly not. The problem is that there are too many cars in Edinburgh for the space available and so they have to be rationed somehow. The most efficient way is price in that those for whom it is most important to run a car in Edinburgh will bid most in an auction to do so.

In other countries there have been other approaches to the same problem. For example on one day only even-numbered licence plates may drive in the city and the next only odd-numbered. Some get around this by owning two cars, or by illegally swapping licence plates.

Another approach which clearly works well is to allow locals to vote on how many cars will bee permitted in the city for the next year. That number of permits are auctioned and only cars with a pass may drive in the city. Some companies bid for permits which they rent out by the day to visitors. The advantage here is that the locals can decide how many cars they'll put up with in the name of keeping the economy going, and review it year-to-year as necessary.

#41 you are the perfect example of interfering in something that does not effect you.

"I have my own house with a private driveway and I never have a problem parking my car."
Here is another stupid statement which is akin to you pearls of wisdom " I don't have a car so parking is not a problem for me"

You are either a) trying to wind people up or
b) don't understand the issue here that people who don't have a private driveway have to put up with.

This scam was a parking tax firstly on residents and secondly on visitors. Also an attempt to force usage of the council's inflexible park and ride scheme.

Unfortunately, the idiots in charge of the congestion creation department didn't realise that the 'parkers' during the day were people 'parking and walking'. So the first area to be taxed achieved meter revenue of £27 grand when they expected £127 grand! Absolute clowns. Presumably council tax will have to rise now to pay the wages of the expanded congestion creation department, sign makers, line painters, inspectors, permit staff, back office staff, complaints and grievances staff, debt collection staff and all the rest of it ...

I work in McDonald Road where the CPZ has just been extended. I see that permit-holding residents in this zone can park in either resident or pay & display zones. Why has this not been extended to the rest of town?

As a resident in another zone I am often required to park in the pay & display zone as all the resident spaces are occupied This means that the next morning I have to leave the space early, feed the meter or receive a parking ticket from one of our delightful parking attendants.

Also, since I pay a fee for a permit for one zone, why can't this be extended (for an additional fee probably) to allow me to park in this zone?

#41 speaks a lot of sense.

The trouble with many Edinburgh residents is that they want their cake and eat it!

If you need, or want, to run a car, move somewhere that offers housing with off-road parking facilities or move outwith the city centre.

You ARE getting a bargain if you are only paying £160 per year. You are taking up valuable parking places that could bring the City Council far more revenue if the spaces were converted to Pay and Display spaces.

If you wish to stay in an Edinburgh street that has no off road parking, you should get the bus, or cycle, or, best of all, Shanks's pony.

47 - £160 a bargain. £55 charged by Wandsworth Council in London is reasonable. £160 is daylight robbery by an inefficient over-staffed council.

That's interesting: "Finance worker Alanna Notman, 26, moved from Newington to Liberton, partly because of parking problems in the south of the city" says the article. A quick look through the archives for the last three years shows Ms Notman popping up no less than four times: to comment on deficiencies in the council's rubbish collection system (http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=570332006), why the electronic bus timetables are no use (http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=125322005), the inconveniences caused by the G8 protests (http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=415892005), and complaining about the CPZ in 2005 (http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1846222005).

How can this have happened? Is it that by some amazing coincidence she's been stopped on five occasions by Evening News reporters canvassing public opinion on the streets of Edinburgh?

Or could it be that all five of these articles were written by the ubiquitous Alan Roden, who's passing off quotes from his personal friends as being representative of the opinions of the citizens of Edinburgh? I think we should be told.

#16 council insider,I suspect that you are surfing this board in council time,if so you should be sack on the spot.

#49. I think you'll find the normal practice is for the reporter to have blanket approval to create 'quotes' and attribute them to a friend.

I certainly know that this was the case when my name appeared in the press in the distant past. ;-)

#47 wake up,you can park anywhere you want anytime you want in central Edinburgh,parking is so bloody expensive nobody shops there anymore.

#49. Too much time on your hands. You need to get out more.
#47 It is your out of towners that cause the problem with parking. Residents are not causing problems parking outside their own homes but those people who travel into town are. Yet we make the resident pay.
Motorists already pay huge amounts in tax to keep bus travellers on the road. Your very small contribution does nothing for road repairs. The road tax (vehicle excise duty for the anally retentive) is used to give grants to councils so without it you would need to pay more. (No doubt some will be saying " I would gladly give more" because there is no danger of that) Do you truly believe your £1 bus fare would pay for the upkeep of roads? If you answer yes to that then I would suggest you are kidding yourself.

Thanks Martin (#51). I must say that I'm shocked. Here I was thinking that the Evening News was a beacon of truth and integrity in an increasingly benighted world, but it seems I was simply being naive. Oh well, another day, another illusion shattered.

James (#53). You're absolutely right. I really do need to get out more.

#49 - You can sign up for a list of readers, which means the reporters contact you by telephone with questions. My mate is on it - he's in the paper at least every month. You should join.

I live in edinburgh. 4 miles from city centre and pay £2 day to get a bus to/from work. That's £10 week.

Now, residents in the town centre are complaining that they have to walk for 10-15 minutes to get home becuase there isn't always a space next to their home.

Don't really have any sympathy when you are only having to pay either £1.50 or £3 a week to park your car on a street in the centre of Edinburgh when you have to pay over £1 an hour on certain streets pay/display meters.

Why not do the eco-friendly thing and allow one car per residence in the city centre. Too many couples living in the city centre with two cars. Not necessary!

What's ridiculous is that there is a difference of 2,200 car space. Trying to explain & park that number of cars.

More documentation & checks should be required when applying such as council tax proof & several other documents to prove that you live at the address.

I'm not sure but some businesses exploit the office as a place of residents & apply & get a permit so when they drive in during the day they get staff permits.

What is scandalous is bad parking. A bay might allow 8 cars into it but poor parking (Wheels not near the edge, some 4 meters out) means that only 5-6 cars can park legally in the space allocated for 8 cars so reducing the number of spaces. Give bad parking a fine or three strikes & your permit is revoked.

To add to the discussion I've witnessed a few disabled badges being illegally used by tradesmen & others. The single occupant who is not the badge holder but a relative using the car with out the needy person park in pay & display or on single yellow lines, get out & run/walk off with out a sign of disability. These dodging crooks deserve to be fined thousands & what is worse if caught their relative will lose out. No doubt another relative will apply aahhh. Definitely hot topics when you’re looking for a space that doesn’t exist but you’ve paid for it.

The council laundering more money making schemes again that do not satisfy the public & their own fat pensions & hand outs.

I'm sick of people like 47 spouting drivel like:
'If you wish to stay in an Edinburgh street that has no off road parking, you should get the bus, or cycle, or, best of all, Shanks's pony'. You have no idea what everyones travel requirements are yet feel free to offer such bollocks advice. Does it never cross your mind that there are people who might have to travel outside the capital now and again, or transport large items around? Do some research.

To all those people who say the Council should be done for fraud, then go try it. Then you will be laughed out of court. Anyone who lives in the centre of town' owns a car and expects a dedicated parking space outside their flat is living in some fantasy world. And the Council don't sell permits promising this either.

aDID ANYONE SEE JADE ON THIS MORNING.......

ok so 10,000 permits have been issued what is the fuss are all these people going to have the same day off i think not and when the restrictions end then the residents bays become a free for all

When I lived in West Crosscauseway it was like this 16 years ago. This is nothing new.

In short - Edinburgh District Council are robbers.

The expansion of the parking scheme is simply a way of picking the pockets of residents even further.

The way they have given 'predictions' on how much money the new parking zones would bring in is beyond belief - then they tell us that the NCP wardens have no targets...

And now we see they have over-sold all the residents parking permits.

The result? - angry locals, empty streets full of pay-and-display machines and tens of thousands of pounds poured down the drain once again.

INCOMPETENCE + THEFT = EDINBURGH DISTRICT COUNCIL.

Information on resident parking.

1. All permit holders in existing zones from 1 to 8,are you aware that you can park in a pay and display bay within your own zone for the first half hour of enforcement?

2. All central zone permit holders ( 1 to 4 ) are you aware that you can park in pay and display bays within your own zone for the last hour of enforcement Monday to Friday 17:30 to 18:30 and from 1:30pm on a saturday afternoon ?

These are two consessions the council have in place which were introduced to try and reduce the problems of over issuing permits compared to available spaces and have been taken a stage further within the new zones of N1,N2 and S1,S2 with the "shared use" bay where permit holders can park in the pay and display bays as well as designated permit bays.There are localised consessions for permit areas in certain zones and streets outwith the above listed consessions,for example zone 1a permit holders are allowed to park in pay and display bays in North Castle street,Charlotte Sqaure and the 1a section of George Street at anytime.

Here is my soloution to the permit chaos.

1. Permit bays should be a 24 hour enforcement,this may require a change in the law via the scottish executive but if introduced would mean those who do not purchase permits and park in spaces after 5:30pm in peripheral zones and 6:30pm in central zones denying those who work late and can never get parked would be duely penalised.

2. Permit holders should be allowed to park in pay and display within their own zones at anytime.

These suggestions would virtually solve the problems of residents struggling to find spaces overnight so Mr Henderson it's over to you.

Yes - we need to free up more parking spaces. Maybe by knocking down some homes?

And has it occurred to anyone that not all the parking spaces are in use at any one time? If the council only sold as many permits as there were permits, there would be an uproar from those who couldnt buy a permit becuase they were all gone, yet the streets were empty.

Maybe people should think twice about buying a car if they live in the city centre....

I have 12 spaces available for rent in my driveway. I will rent them for 160 pounds a year to the first 100 people who contact me!

Mr sensible # 65, very sensible indeed. The situation in places like Roseneath Street in Marchmont is farcical with pub and restaurant goers parking in permit spots until 1 in the morning, leaving the residents nowhere to park. This is half the problem. The question is, what can we do to get the council to change this stupid rule.

On pay and display bays, you couldn't let the residents use all these otherwise where would the shoppers park. A limited number of dual use bays is surely the way to go.

James(1), Nice to see your still accusing people of working for the council on the basis of no evidence.

This is one of the reasons why the people around the royal infirmary refused a parking scheme.

Last December my elderly mother came to visit, and wanted to go shopping in the afternoon before we went to the pantomime at night. As it would have been impractical (and of course, wrong...) to feed the meter every two hours, I had to park in the Castle Terrace car park, which cost me £15.

The basic problem is the council's whole attitude to the car. Anyone who doesn't live in Edinburgh who wants to go and visit for the day (and amazing as it may sound, not everywhere has pubic transport to Edinburgh) has to destroy their suspension on the third world standard road surfaces, circle for hours round the ridiculous one way and restricted areas trying to find where they want to go (thus causing more pollution), and then remortgage their house in order to be able to pay for a parking space. The permit chaos is just another extension of this. I'm sure one day the councillors will get their wish and Edinburgh will be a car free zone. But by then, all the shops and businesses will have moved out in order to survive, and there will be no point in going into the centre of Edinburgh anyway.

Here's a thought. Rather than allowing one permit per "household" (e.g. a property unit paying Council Tax), why not apportion parking spaces against the AMOUNT of Council Tax paid - e.g. I could choose to chop my house up into 4 flats, fill them with tenants and quadruple the number of cars against the same property footprint.

I haven't so I should be allowed a larger number of permits that I can rent out - now that's fair - pay more- get more.

While we're at it, let's allocate votes against the amount paid in Council Tax (both for domestic and business tax), that way, those whose money props up the Council get a real say in how it's spent or flushed down the pan.

#70

"I'm sure one day the councillors will get their wish and Edinburgh will be a car free zone. But by then, all the shops and businesses will have moved out in order to survive, and there will be no point in going into the centre of Edinburgh anyway."

Unless, of course you have one of the new jobs in the Cooncil's "we need 40 of us to explain away why the Trams actually cost 5,000% more than we said they would" department or you're actually a Cooncillor taxi-ing in to have a day's kip in the chamber and pick up your expenses.

#72 - Naturally!

Yawn....

The usual drivel from a bunch of slack jawed yokels whose inability to string a coherent sentence together is matched only by their ignorance.

73 posts in total, and maybe half a dozen (if we're lucky) that have valid, informed and actually helpful suggestions. Was it really worth crawling out from under your respective rocks simply to show how misinformed you were?

This will, I suspect, be my last visit to this website. If I want to read any further opinionated, self indulgent, sensationalist nonsense being spouted by a misinformed and self serving minority, then I may have to resort to actually buying an Evening News.

"Drivers today said they felt they had been "robbed" after paying up to £160 for a permit with no guarantee of a parking space. "

Of course its a scam to raise more revenue for the council thats how Labour operate more & more indirect taxes....

Permits should be free to residents to allow them to park in the zone and the same parking bays should be open to non-residents to pay to park...

Edinburgh Council fail to see how much Business they are driving away to other places who understand that for the vast majority of people the car is the only viable form of transport. Just drive along most of the roads leading into Edinburgh and all you see is row after row of "To Let", "For Sale" signs....all former local businesses that have gone due to the Council creating congestion and parking zones...

I have spent the last 20odd mins reading all these posts....omg will you people ever get a life instead of contributing this garbage....parking is NOT the end o' the world

#76 You ozzie's'll never understand!
Paying for parking to you, is like parking upside down to us! Get it? Nah thought not! But hey maybe ECC will try that one next?

#74. As you say "This will, I suspect, be my last visit to this website. If I want to read any further opinionated, self indulgent, sensationalist nonsense being spouted by a misinformed and self serving minority, then I may have to resort to actually buying an Evening News."

Why not just read your personal diary?

The bad grammar you were complaining about, did you mean "are" instead of "were" or are you saying they are no longer misinformed?

James(1) # 78, we can only hope and pray it is his last visit.